CHAPTER X.
The next morning Lucilla woke early—as was usual with her—and presently joined her father upon the deck. He greeted her, as was his custom, with a smile and a tender caress, asking if she were quite well and had passed a comfortable night.
"Yes, papa," she said; "I slept as soundly as possible, and feel perfectly well this morning; as I hope you do."
"I do, for I also enjoyed a good night's rest and sleep."
The yacht was moving, and Lucilla remarked it with some surprise.
"I thought we were lying at anchor," she said.
"So we were through the night," replied her father, "but now we are travelling toward Fort Meigs—or perhaps I should rather say its ruins."
"Oh, that will be an interesting spot to visit!" exclaimed Lucilla.
"Just where is it, papa?"
"On the Maumee River, opposite Maumee City, situated at the head of river navigation, eight miles from Toledo."
"Wasn't it somewhere in that region that Wayne fought one or more of his battles with the Indians?"
"Yes; he took possession of and fortified the place where St. Clair was defeated, and called it Fort Recovery. That was in 1794. On the 30th of June he was attacked by about a thousand Indians with some British soldiers and Canadian volunteers, who assailed the garrison several times. Fifty-seven Americans were killed, wounded, and missing; also 221 horses. The Indians said they lost more than in their battle with St. Clair.
"A few weeks later Wayne was joined by Major-General Scott with 1600 mounted volunteers from Kentucky, and two days later he moved forward with his whole force toward the Maumee. Remembering the sad fate of St. Clair and his men, Wayne moved very cautiously; so slowly and stealthily that the Indians called him the 'Black Snake.' He had faithful, competent scouts and guides, and he moved by unfrequented ways, with perplexing feints. Twenty-five miles beyond Fort Recovery he built Fort Adams. Again he moved forward for four days, then encamped on a beautiful plain at the confluence of the Maumee and Auglaize rivers, on the site of the present town of Defiance; I presume from the fort Wayne built there, and which he called Fort Defiance. He found there a deserted Indian town with at least a thousand acres of corn growing around it. Wayne was now in full possession of power to subjugate and destroy the Indians, but, unwilling to shed blood unnecessarily, he sent them a message with kind words. 'Be no longer deceived or led astray by false promises and language of bad white men at the foot of the rapids; they have neither the power nor the inclination to protect you.'
"He offered them peace and tranquillity, and invited them to send deputies to meet him in council without delay.
"But they rejected his overtures, and said in reply, 'Stay where you are for ten days, and we will treat with you; but if you advance we will give you battle.'
"Wayne was, however, too wise and wary to be deceived by them. He saw that nothing but a severe blow would break the spirit of the tribes and end the war, and, as Lossing says, he resolved to inflict it mercilessly.
"On the 15th of August his legion moved forward, and on the 18th took post at the head of the rapids, near the present town of Waterville, where they established a magazine of supplies and baggage, protected by military works, and named it Fort Deposit. There, on the 19th, Wayne called a council of war and adopted a plan of march and battle proposed by Lieutenant Harrison."
"Afterward general, papa?"
"Yes, nineteen years later he had become general-in-chief, and performed gallant exploits in this same valley of the Maumee.
"The next morning after that council, at eight o'clock, Wayne advanced according to that plan. They had gone forward about five miles when the advance corps, under Major Price, was terribly smitten by heavy volleys from the concealed foe and compelled to fall back. The enemy was full 2000 strong—composed of Indians and Canadian volunteers, and they were arranged in three lines within supporting distance of each other.
"Wayne's legion was immediately formed in two lines, principally in a dense wood on the borders of a wet prairie, where a large number of trees had been prostrated by a tornado, which made the movements of cavalry very difficult, besides affording a fine covert for the enemy. But Wayne's troops fell upon them with fearful energy, soon making them flee, like a herd of frightened deer, toward Fort Miami."
"The fort the British had built upon our ground without so much as saying by your leave?"
"The very same. They reached it by a hasty flight of two miles through the thick woods, leaving forty of their number dead on the way, by the side of each of whom lay a musket and bayonet from British armories.
"Three days and three nights Wayne and his army remained below the rapids, making such desolation as seemed necessary for the subjugation of the hostile Indians and the treacherous Britains and Canadians; all that in defiance of the threats of the commandant of Fort Miami, though his guns were within view of the American tents. He—Colonel McKee—was the chief instigator of the war with the Indians, with whom he was carrying on a most lucrative trade, and he had there extensive storehouses and dwellings. These our troops set fire to and destroyed, as they did all the products of the fields and gardens."
"That seems a pity, papa, but I suppose it was necessary."
"Yes; as no doubt those British men well knew. Wayne's men sometimes were within pistol-shot of Fort Miami, but its guns kept silence. The commander did a good deal of scolding and threatening; Wayne coolly defied him and retorted with vigor. But neither went any farther.
"Wayne and his troops remained there until the middle of September, when they went to the head of the Maumee; and at the bend of the river, just below the confluence of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, which form it, they built a strong fortification and called it Fort Wayne. By the latter part of October it was finished and garrisoned with infantry and artillery, under Colonel Hamtramck.
"The rest of the troops then left, some for Fort Washington, to be discharged from the service, and others for Fort Greenville, where Wayne made his headquarters for the winter. There the various tribes with whom he had been at war came to him—by deputations—and agreed upon preliminary terms of peace. They remembered that he had assured them that the British had neither the power nor the inclination to help them—and how that assurance had been verified by the silence of the guns of Fort Miami.
"They promised to meet him in council early the next summer, and did so. Early in June chiefs and sachems began to reach Fort Greenville, and on the 16th of that month a grand council was opened there. Almost 1100 Indians were present, and the council continued until the 10th of August. On the 3d of that month a satisfactory treaty was signed by all parties. And by a special treaty between the United States and Great Britain the western military posts were soon evacuated by the British, and for fifteen years the most remote frontier settlements were safe from any annoyance by the Indians."
"And that encouraged emigration to the Northwestern Territory, did it not, papa?" asked Lucilla.
"Yes," he said, "and in consequence the country grew rapidly in population of a hardy kind."
"Until the War of 1812."
"Yes; and it was in that war that Harrison did so much to distinguish himself as a patriot and a brave and skilful officer."
"And it was then he built the Fort Meigs you are taking us to, papa?"
"Yes; at the Maumee Rapids in February, 1813. It was named for Return
Jonathan Meigs, who was then Governor of Ohio."
"Return Jonathan! what an odd name!"
"Yes, and there is an odd story connected with it. Years before the Revolution a bright-eyed coquette was courted by Jonathan Meigs. On one occasion he pressed his suit with great earnestness and asked for a positive answer. She would not give it, but feigned coolness, and he—growing discouraged—resolved to be trifled with no longer, so bade her farewell forever. He took his departure, but had not gone far down the lane when she ran after him and at the gate called out, 'Return Jonathan; return Jonathan!'
"He did go back to her; they afterward married, and were very happy together; and when the first son was born they named him Return Jonathan.
"He was born in 1740; was the heroic Colonel Meigs who did such valiant service in the Revolutionary War, and was one of the early settlers of Ohio, going there in 1788. His son Return Jonathan was elected Governor of Ohio in 1810 and held that office until 1814.
"Harrison arrived at Fort Meigs on the 12th of April, 1813, and was glad to find there 200 Pennsylvanians, patriotic men, who, though anxious to go home to put in their spring seeds, assured him that they would never leave him until he thought their services could be spared without danger to the cause. He discharged them on the arrival of three Kentucky companies.
"While on his way Harrison had been told of frequent appearances of Indian scouts in the neighborhood of the rapids, and of little skirmishes with what he supposed to be the advance of a more powerful foe. That alarmed him, and he despatched a messenger to Governor Shelby of Kentucky asking him to send to the Maumee the whole of the 3000 men who had been drafted in that State. He brought with him about 300 men in all, but was agreeably surprised to find, on his arrival, that there were no signs of the enemy being near in great force.
"But that enemy was at that very time preparing to strike a destructive blow at Fort Meigs. Tecumseh was even then at Fort Malden with almost 1500 Indians. Proctor had fired his zeal and that of his brother, who was called the Prophet, by promises of future success in their schemes for confederating the tribes, and boasting of his ample power to place Fort Meigs with its garrison and immense stores in the hands of his Indian allies.
"Proctor was delighted with this response of the savages to his call, and had fine visions of the victory he was going to gain, and the glory and promotion it would bring him. He was more boastful than ever, and treated the Americans at Detroit in a supercilious manner. He ordered the Canadians to assemble at Sandwich on the 7th of April and told them the campaign would be short, decisive, successful, and profitable."
"How did he know!" exclaimed Lucilla scornfully.
"He did not," said her father; "events shortly following showed it to have been but idle boasting. That boast was made on the 7th of April. On the 23d his army and his savage allies embarked on a brig and several smaller vessels, accompanied by two gunboats and some artillery. On the 26th they were at the mouth of the Maumee, about twelve miles below Fort Meigs, and two days later they landed on the left bank of the river near old Fort Miami, and established their main camp there.
"Captain Hamilton of the Ohio troops was reconnoitring down the river with a small force on the 28th, when he discovered the enemy there in force. They were first seen by Peter Navarre, one of Harrison's most trusty scouts. Hamilton sent him in haste to Fort Meigs with the news, and Harrison at once despatched him with three letters—one for Governor Meigs at Urbana, one for Upper Sandusky, and one for Lower Sandusky. Fort Meigs was quite strong—had intrenchments, pickets, several blockhouses, and a good supply of field-pieces; but from the account he had had of the character and strength of the enemy, Harrison considered it in imminent peril. He knew that General Clay was on his march with his Kentuckians, and immediately after despatching Navarre with his letters, he sent Captain William Oliver, the commissary of the fort, and a brave, judicious, and intelligent officer, with a verbal message to Clay urging him to press forward by forced marches.
"Oliver found General Clay at Defiance with 1200 Kentuckians. At St.
Mary's blockhouse Clay divided his brigade. He descended the St. Mary
himself with Colonel Boswell's corps, while Dudley went down the
Auglaize.
"The two divisions were to meet at Defiance. But before Dudley had reached that point he heard of Harrison's perilous position at Fort Meigs. A council of officers was called, and it was resolved to send Harrison word that succor was at hand. It was a very dangerous errand and required someone who was well acquainted with the country. Leslie Combs, a brave, patriotic young man, whom Clay had commissioned captain of a company of riflemen as spies or scouts, volunteered to go.
"'When we reach Fort Defiance,' he said, 'if you will furnish me a good canoe, I will carry your despatches to General Harrison, and return with his orders. I shall only require four or five volunteers from my own company.' His offer was joyfully accepted by Dudley. The next morning, May 1, they reached Defiance, and as soon as a canoe could be procured, Combs and his companions—Paxton, Johnson, and two brothers named Walker—started on their perilous errand. They had with them also a Shawnee warrior named Black Fish. He took the helm, the other four the oars, while Combs was at the bow in charge of the rifles and ammunition.
"As they pushed off from Fort Defiance there were cheers and sad adieus, for few thought they would ever see them again. It was a dangerous voyage; rain was falling fast and the night was intensely dark. Combs was determined to reach Fort Meigs before daylight the next morning. They passed the rapids in safety, but not till quite late in the morning, and then heard heavy cannonading in the direction of the fort. That told them that the siege had begun, which made an attempt to reach the fort far more perilous than it would otherwise have been.
"Combs had now a hard choice to make. It would be prudent to go back, but would not seem courageous, while to stay where they were till the next night, or to go on at once, seemed equally hazardous. But he was very brave and soon came to a decision. 'We must go on, boys,' he said; 'and if you expect the honor of taking coffee with General Harrison this morning, you must work hard for it.'
"He knew the weakness of the garrison and feared it could not hold out long. Therefore great was his joy when, on sweeping round Turkey Point, at the last bend in the river, he saw the Stripes and Stars waving over the beleaguered camp. His little company evinced their delight by a suppressed shout. That was a sad mistake, for, suddenly, a solitary Indian appeared in the edge of the woods, and in another moment a large body of them could be seen in the gray shadows of the forest, running eagerly to a point below to cut off Combs and his party from the fort.
"He attempted to dart by them, when a volley of bullets wounded Paxton and Johnson—the latter mortally. The fire was returned with effect, then the Shawnee turned the prow to the opposite shore, and the voyagers left the canoe and fled toward Defiance. They tried to take Johnson and Paxton with them, but found it impossible, so were compelled to leave them to become captives.
"At the end of two days and two nights Combs and Black Fish reached Defiance, where they found Clay and his troops just arrived. The Walkers were there also, having fled more swiftly than Combs and the Indian had been able to because of their efforts to aid the flight of the two wounded men. They had suffered terribly in their flight, and for a time Combs was unable to take command of his company, but he went down the river with the re-enforcements and took an active part in the fight at Fort Meigs.
"But, ah, here come others of our party, and I must leave the rest of my story to be told later in the day," added the captain, turning to greet Violet and his younger children, who at that moment appeared upon the deck.